Dark Souls - PlayStation 3https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/default.aspxen-USTelligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)Dark Souls Review: Dead And Loving Ithttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/10/03/dark-souls-review-dead-and-loving-it.aspxMon, 03 Oct 2011 16:00:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1280717Phil Kollar0<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/boss_gargoyle12.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Back when I <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/demons_souls/b/ps3/archive/2009/10/20/review.aspx">reviewed Demon&rsquo;s Souls</a> in 2009, I argued that the excellent PS3 exclusive got too much hype for its difficulty when it had so many more other stand-out elements: atmospheric levels, rewarding combat, and wildly unique multiplayer. Dark Souls, the spiritual successor to Demon&rsquo;s Souls, still has all of these features, but developer From Software has latched on to the idea of difficulty and honed it to an art form. Dark Souls is without a doubt the hardest game I have ever played; that is its blessing, and that is its curse.</p>
<p>Some frustration in Dark Souls arises from how this generation&rsquo;s games have conditioned us. Gamers are used to handholding tutorials that walk you through every aspect of a game&rsquo;s mechanics. Dark Souls doesn&rsquo;t waste time explaining things. You encounter the first boss within 10 minutes of starting the game. He&rsquo;s huge. He wields a giant club that can take away half of your health bar or more in a single swing &ndash; and this isn&rsquo;t one of those battles you&rsquo;re supposed to lose. After a quick detour, you&rsquo;re fully expected to defeat this monster as one of your first acts in this deadly world.</p>
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<h3>Taking the death and destruction online</h3>
<p>Demon&rsquo;s Souls had a unique online system where you could invite other players, in the form of Blue Phantoms, to help you, but you also had to watch out for invasions from players in the form of Black Phantoms. These multiplayer options have carried over to Dark Souls, but the game also introduces some strange new systems.</p>
<p>Throughout the game, players will encounter NPCs that allow them to join different covenants. Choosing a covenant helps determine who you face off against in PvP. Covenants also open up the possibility of affecting someone else&rsquo;s game without directly warping into it, such as dropping an item that summons monsters into other players&rsquo; games.</p>
Multiplayer access was limited during my time with the review build, so I wasn&rsquo;t able to see the full implementation of covenants. Like the Blue and Black Phantoms, this system seems like it will set Dark Souls apart from the competition and give it a singular feeling that will make it entertaining for months to come.
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<p>Strange new concepts such as humanity (a resource that allows you to revert from undead form back to human) and kindling (an act that gets you more health flasks at your current checkpoint) could use more explanation, but this is the kind of stuff that the Dark Souls community will love toying with and figuring out over the next few months.</p>
<p>The overall lack of direction the game gives you is harder to forgive. The world laid out in Dark Souls is absolutely massive but, beyond cryptic hints from a handful of scattered NPCs, you&rsquo;re not told where to go. Exploration is a key part of the game but, with a world this huge, you&rsquo;re bound to hit multiple points where you feel like you&rsquo;ve explored everything open to you and don&rsquo;t know where to go next. Sometimes the correct path ahead is unnecessarily obscure, requiring you to drop down a cliff or walk across a narrow ledge that doesn&rsquo;t look passable. Without the help of a guide or consulting Internet forums, it&rsquo;s likely that you&rsquo;ll spend hours searching through old areas before you discover that the way forward was hidden in plain sight.</p>
<p>Once you figure out where you&rsquo;re going, though, Dark Souls can be stunning, rewarding experience. I spent a full day playing through the death-trap-filled Sen&rsquo;s Fortress level over and over again, but it wasn&rsquo;t frustrating at all. With each attempt, I discovered a new secret or devised a strategy that would afford me another scrap of progress. By the end of the day, I had the whole of this level &ndash; easily one of the most devious ever designed &ndash; memorized. Now I can practically run through it blindfolded. It&rsquo;s a wonderful feeling showing off this sadistic setting to friends and coworkers and having them marvel at my abilities, which are based entirely in perseverance and smart play rather than twitch skills.</p>
<p>But for every few areas that distill what was amazing about Demon&rsquo;s Souls down into its purest and most brilliant form, there is one that takes things a step too far. The Tomb of the Giants is a pitch-black catacomb full of giant skeletons that forces you to trade your shield for a lantern if you want to see your hazardous surroundings. The beautiful castles of Anor Londo require balancing across precariously thin walkways while avoiding arrow bolts from multiple angles. The majority of the game is spent in much less frustrating areas, but there are a handful that break the golden rule that made Demon&rsquo;s Souls so good: Every death, however painful, was always fair.</p>
<p>Despite my complaints, I can&rsquo;t help but feel a rush of adrenaline just thinking about Dark Souls. I spent around 60 hours playing it over the last month and died nearly 100 times while doing so. I screamed, I cursed, and I threw down my controller in defeat more times than I&rsquo;m proud of. I can&rsquo;t wait to get back in and do it all over again. Dark Souls probably won&rsquo;t be the biggest or best game released this year, but I&rsquo;m already sure it&rsquo;s the one I&rsquo;m going to spend the most time playing.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1280717" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingnamco bandaifrom softwaredark soulsReview223Dark Souls Prologue Part 3https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/09/09/dark-souls-prologue-part-3.aspxFri, 09 Sep 2011 14:19:21 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1220056Matthew Kato42https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1220056https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/09/09/dark-souls-prologue-part-3.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/darksouls9.9.11610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Namco Bandai and developer From Software have just sent out the third part of the Dark Souls prologue trailer series exploring some of the game&#39;s backstory.</p>
<p>If you want to see dragons get smote by raining hales of lightning bolts, then you should check this out.</p>
<p>For Part 2 in the series, <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/09/01/teaser-trailer-is-full-of-things-that-will-probably-kill-you.aspx">click here</a>, and for more on the game, check out Phil&#39;s impressions from <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/08/18/another-look-at-the-twisted-world-of-dark-souls.aspx">Gamescom</a>.</p>
<p>Dark Souls comes out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 4.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1220056" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingnamco bandaiPreviewfrom softwaredark soulsXbox 360Teaser Trailer Is Full Of Things That Will Probably Kill Youhttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/09/01/teaser-trailer-is-full-of-things-that-will-probably-kill-you.aspxThu, 01 Sep 2011 17:26:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1196693Adam Biessener0https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1196693https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/09/01/teaser-trailer-is-full-of-things-that-will-probably-kill-you.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/teaser610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>From Software&#39;s upcoming action/RPG Dark Souls is gearing up to kill you. In the game, I mean. What better way to prepare yourself than by watching this creepy teaser trailer?</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>Talking about games wanting to kill you reminds of the time a friend of mine was playing Diablo II, trying to level his first hardcore character online (where if you die, the character is deleted forever). He&#39;s having some trouble with the first boss, Andariel, so he joins a game called Kill Andy Now (the colloquial term for Andariel) on Battle.net looking for some help from his fellow adventurers.</p>
<p>Of course, he gets killed by a player 30 levels his senior as soon as he goes through the waypoint.</p>
<p>My friend&#39;s name? Andy. Obviously.</p>
<p>Remember: If it looks like something on the Internet is trolling you, it probably is.</p>
<p>Anyway, Dark Souls comes out on October 4 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Phil&#39;s <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/08/18/another-look-at-the-twisted-world-of-dark-souls.aspx">Gamescom preview</a> is your best bet to learn actual things about the game instead of looking at pretty videos in the meantime.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1196693" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingnamco bandaiPreviewfrom softwaredark soulsrandom storiesAnother Look At The Twisted World Of Dark Soulshttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/08/18/another-look-at-the-twisted-world-of-dark-souls.aspxThu, 18 Aug 2011 17:50:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1156982Phil Kollar1https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1156982https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/08/18/another-look-at-the-twisted-world-of-dark-souls.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/darksoulsannounce610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" />0</p>
<p>At this point, a mere couple months before launch, Namco doesn&#39;t have much left to reveal about Dark Souls in terms of actual gameplay. Today at Gamescom I was able to check out a brand new level of the game, though, and it was a pitch-perfect match of the things I loved in Demon&#39;s Souls.</p>
<p>The level on display today was the archive tower, a vertical area with winding staircases and shelves of books lining the walls. The player began the level locked in a frozen jail cell -- clearly this isn&#39;t your average library. Upon exiting the jail cell, a cutscene showed a group of long-necked lizard men who seemed to be guards pulling a switch. An odd gramophone-looking device rose from the ground and began emitting a screeching noise that called forth a foe even scarier than the lizard men.</p>
<p>On the bottom level of the archive tower, a large group of octopus-headed monsters emerged from a cell. These Lovecraftian creatures are guardians of the archives and immediately began climbing the stairs to reach the hero. The Namco representative playing the game attempted to take them on one-on-one, but despite playing as a slightly beefed-up character, one of the octopus monsters quickly killed him in the most horrifying way possible: by attaching itself to the hero&#39;s head. </p>
<p>Taking a lesson from his failure, in his next try the representative left the cell and immediately bolted up the stairs, climbing a ladder to avoid the octopus creatures, who apparently did not have the capability to climb. Up top, he encountered a large locked door. Clearly he needed a key to proceed, but the only way to find one was venturing back down where the powerful monsters waited. </p>
<p>Rather than risking going back down the ladder, the Namco rep tried jumping off the ledge the door was on to a scaffolding below. He lost a little health in the process but was able to proceed. He pointed at this as an important lesson in how to properly play Dark Souls: take risks and don&#39;t worry too much about dying. </p>
<p>Making his way back down to the bottom of the archive floor through some hidden passageways, the rep ran past the swarming monsters and up a ladder to the noisy device that had summoned them. He took out the lizard guards and used the combat to show off Dark Souls fast weapon swapping, a feature that has improved greatly from Demon&#39;s Souls. Afterward, he pulled the lever, the noise stopped, and the creepy Cthulhu monsters returned to their lair on the bottom. As the character passed by said lair, he glimpsed all of them huddling together in the room, and they turned to look at him and even lashed out when he got too close. </p>
<p>Both the vertical nature and the Lovecraft-inspired monstrosities in this level reminded me a lot of the Tower of Latria, my favorite level from Demon&#39;s Souls. Clearly From Software still has a special touch for creating wildly atmospheric and unsettling locations. </p>
<p>Namco also briefly showed off an outdoors section beyond the tower. Immediately after exiting the tower, the character entered a wide open forest. This level looked bigger and less guided than any of the levels in Demon&#39;s Souls. After exploring for a bit, he found the entrance to a huge underground cave filled with giant ice monsters. </p>
<p>This portion of the demo really highlighted the way in which the separate areas in Dark Souls connect into one large, seamless world. Going from the isolation of the archive tower to the wonder of the forest and crystal cave in such a short span of time was amazing to behold. I can only hope the full game includes more similarly exciting transitions.</p>
<p>For even more Dark Souls, check out <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/08/17/dark-souls-looks-kind-of-tough.aspx">Namco&#39;s latest trailer</a> for the game released for Gamescom.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1156982" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-PlayingPreviewdark soulsgamescom2011gamescomDark Souls Looks Kind Of Toughhttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/08/17/dark-souls-looks-kind-of-tough.aspxThu, 18 Aug 2011 00:06:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1154721Tim Turi96https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1154721https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/08/17/dark-souls-looks-kind-of-tough.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/darksouls659-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>The spiritual successor to the legendarily challenging Demon&#39;s Souls is nearly upon us. This trailer offers masochistic gamers a glimpse at the pain that is soon to be inflicted.</p>
<p>Giant teeth monsters, gigantic armored nights, and hordes of animated skeletons await on the bravest warriors. Check out the trailer below, fresh out of Gamescom 2011.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>Dark Souls arrives on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 October 4. Will you be suiting up for battle?</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1154721" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingnamco bandaiPreviewdark soulsgamescom2011this game will be hardHere Are Some Ways You'll Die In Dark Soulshttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/07/11/here-are-some-ways-you-39-ll-die-in-dark-souls.aspxMon, 11 Jul 2011 18:20:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1055336Phil Kollar69https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1055336https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/07/11/here-are-some-ways-you-39-ll-die-in-dark-souls.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/darksouls0711.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Falling from a precarious balance beam. Being ambushed as you walk
down the stairs. Becoming food for a giant dragon beast. Burning to a
crisp. These are just a handful of the many death traps awaiting in Dark
Souls that are on display in the latest batch of screenshots for the
upcoming game.</p>
<p>Check out all 14 screens below to see Dark Souls&#39; impressive visuals as well as its many challenges. Then check out <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/06/03/dark-souls-to-torture-gamers-on-october-4.aspx">the E3 trailer</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/xbox360/archive/2011/03/04/39-beacon-fire-39-system-provides-respite-in-dark-souls.aspx">our write-up</a> of the game&#39;s new Beacon Fire system. All of this and more awaits you when Dark Souls launches in October.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1055336" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-PlayingPreviewdark soulsDark Souls To Torture Gamers On October 4https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/06/03/dark-souls-to-torture-gamers-on-october-4.aspxFri, 03 Jun 2011 17:16:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:965904Jeff Marchiafava60https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=965904https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/06/03/dark-souls-to-torture-gamers-on-october-4.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/namco-bandai/darksouls/darksoulsannounce610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>High strung gamers should start booking their psychiatrist appointments for the beginning of October, as the release date of&nbsp; the spiritual sequel to From Software&#39;s notoriously difficult action RPG Demon&#39;s Souls is now certain. Continue on to see the E3 trailer for the game.</p>
<p>The video below shows no shortage of giant monsters waiting to trounce players in Dark Souls, and while director Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated that the game will be <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/02/05/dark-souls-will-be-harder-than-demon-39-s-souls.aspx">even more difficult</a> than Demon&#39;s Souls, at least players will have <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/03/04/39-beacon-fire-39-system-provides-respite-in-dark-souls.aspx">a new safe zone</a> that they can visit to save their game and heal. Having a central safe zone is possible thanks to Dark Souls&#39; open world design, which should appeal to more gamers than the linear levels of Demon&#39;s Souls, although we&#39;ll have to see how exploration affects From&#39;s level design.</p>
<p>Dark Souls will be available on October 4 for PS3 and for Xbox 360.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=965904" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingdemon&#39;s soulsPreviewfrom softwaredark souls'Beacon Fire' System Provides Respite In Dark Soulshttps://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/03/04/39-beacon-fire-39-system-provides-respite-in-dark-souls.aspxFri, 04 Mar 2011 19:33:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:786187Jeff Cork2https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=786187https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dark_souls/b/ps3/archive/2011/03/04/39-beacon-fire-39-system-provides-respite-in-dark-souls.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/from-software/darksouls/darksouls0304-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Details are still scarce when it comes to From Software&#39;s follow-up to Demon&#39;s Souls, aside from a <a target="_blank" title="teasing comment" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/controlpanel/b/news/archive/2011/02/05/dark-souls-will-be-harder-than-demon-39-s-souls.aspx">teasing comment</a>
that the game will be harder than its predecessor. From and publisher
Namco Bandai have released a new batch of Dark Souls screens today, and
while they don&#39;t shed much light on the game the accompanying press
release does discuss a new feature that supposedly affects gameplay in
significant ways.</p>
<p>The Beacon Fire (pictured below) is a safe zone for players, giving
them a place to heal and save their game, as well as serving as an
in-game checkpoint location. It also looks an awful lot like a firepit.</p>
<p>While
Dark Souls isn&#39;t a direct sequel to Demon&#39;s Souls, From Software is
definitely using the game as a starting point in significant ways. The
game will have a similar multiplayer mode, and players will be able to
leave notes for other players to read online. The game&#39;s combat is said
to be similar as well. One key difference between the games is that
while Demon&#39;s Souls was structured around levels, Dark Souls will be
taking place across an open world.</p>
<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/from-software/darksouls/Beacon_Fire.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=786187" width="1" height="1">PlayStation 3Role-Playingdemon&#39;s soulsnamco bandaiPreviewfrom softwaredark souls